Monday, August 31, 2009

Ok, so I hope your not tired of seeing pictures of my groceries yet! But I am so proud when I get a good deal! As mentioned in my previous post, I went to Target this morning. Here is a breakdown of what I got. Im also going to tell you how you can start saving too!

First lets start with the household stuff.

This is what I got: Dish detergent, Quatro razor, Intution razor, Bounce Dryer Bar, Tide Stain Release. I paid $14.20, without coupons, it would have been $27.95.

Next are the dog items: We found a new home for our outside dog, but still have our inside doggy!

I was able to get a big bag of doggy treats and a 5# bag of dog food for $ 1.40! Normal price would have been $7.50!!!

I also was able to stock up on some baby items! Im learning to stock up and save money! That way Im never forced to pay full price when I need that item!

I got 2 packs of diapers, 1 pack of wipes, 1 Large bottle of Johnsons wash, 1 bottle of baby oil gel and one No More Tangles. (that is for Kelsey to try now) Normal price $28.95, I paid $15.44!

This next purchase was one of the best! Dryer Ice Cream is on sale for $2.50, I bought 2, bring it to $5.00. After coupons, I paid $1.00 for both! 50 cents each!!

My next purchase was kinda like a reward! I've been seeing this on TV. A Febreeze Luminary. It looks and flickers like a candle, but is actually a light. The shade is what is scented. They were priced at $14.99, but I had a $5.00 coupon, so got it for $9.99. Kinda a splurge, but I liked it SO MUCH, I went back to Target during lunch and used my other coupon to buy another! They smell awesome, and scent the whole house! It was hard to get a good picture, it is on in both pics, but my flash made it look like it wasnt, and when I tried without the flash, it was blurry! It matches my living room perfectly!!!

Not counting the candle, I paid around $42.00 for $77.00 worth of items!

Would you like to save?? Take the class I did!! Heather over at Sit A Spell, and her friend Kirby will be hosting a coupon class coming up! Here is the link:

As most of you know, (does anyone actually read my blog??) I love my coupons! Well Target is one of the best places to use coupons because you can actually use 2 coupons per item. You can use a Manufacture Coupon and then you can use a Target coupon. Well last night I sat down and made a list of everything I was going to get at Target. I had about 20 items, so I had 40 coupons! Now I admit that is alot to hand over at the end of my transaction, so I try to go during a time when I know there is not going to be a crowd or long line behind me. I was at Target at 7:57am this morning, they open at 8am. I had my list ready and got all of my items on it. When I got up to pay the cashier, lets call her "Lucy", told me I could not use 2 coupons for one item. I tried to tell her the rules for coupon stacking, one manufacture, one Target. She did not believe me and called her manager over. The manager told "Lucy" that I was correct, I could use 2 coupons. "Lucy" did not like that I was right and she was wrong. "Lucy" was not very nice to me during the rest of the transaction! Im trying to buy ahead so when baby comes, I wont have to spend lots of money. I had 3 coupons for 1.00 off a Gerber Feeding Accessory. I bought 3 bottles that were .99. "Lucy" informed me that bottles were not a feeding accessory. Im still pondering that one, but told me I could not use those 3 coupons. Ok, whatever, I just paid for the bottles and told myself I would take them back during lunch. ( I still saved 56.00, but that is my next post.)Soooo, on my lunch break, because I went back to Target for something else, I took the 3 bottles to customer service for a return. GUESS who was working at customer service?? "LUCY"!!!!By this time Im wishing I would have changed my shirt or something so she wouldn't recognize me! I just quickly told her I wanted to return these, and got my money back. I went to get what I came for, a Febreeze Luminary (which is an awesome candle) They were 14.99 and I had a $4.00 coupon. Kinda a splurge, but those things are awesome! Anyway, when I went to check out, the lady hit total and closed the sale BEFORE scanning my coupon. I asked her if she could cancel it and she said no. If I wanted to get refunded my $4.00, I would have to go to customer service. Hello "LUCY" Again!!!! So I explained what happened to "Lucy" and this time she was very nice, (maybe she didnt recognize me) and refunded my money.I don't think Target liked me today!!!

We gave away our dog Chief yesterday. He was Lukesdog before we met and just was not cut out for thecity life! He was still a puppy and liked to bark,dig holes and jump on us. We did not have muchroom for him in our backyard. We found a family with4 little children that are going to give himplenty of lovin!!!Here are some pics of Kelsey telling himbye last night!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Sorry, right now I have no new pictures to post! But we have had a pretty busy week!Yesterday I went to Monterey and had lunch with old friends/co-workers! I got to see my friend Hayley who is also having a baby! I had a good visit with everyone. After rushing home to pick up Kelsey from school, we came home, she changed and we went to a photo shoot in downtown Bryan which was part of a contest...more details on that Friday! My sister also brought Tateym for her first professional photo shoot, and the young age of 5 days! We took them in an alley in downtown Bryan, the pictures turned out awesome! On Friday, I will need you to vote for Kelsey and Tateym so they can win another photo session! But more on that later! I did not realize until today that we only have 6 MORE DAYS until we find out the sex of the baby!!! Of course Luke wants a boy, and I really don't care either way. A boy would be nice, but little girls are always alot of fun! We also are hard at work on our new website and getting things made for our craft booths! Hopeuflly we will have our "grand opening" soon!!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Today I went to Kroger for my weekly shopping trip! I am learning more each time about using coupons and discounts in order to save the most money. My total BEFORE handing over my Kroger card and coupons was $96.73. After coupons and Kroger discounts, I paid $33.79 for 44 items!!

I bought alot of snack foods because I would rather snack 12 times a day than eat a whole meal! Im just not every really hungry! Pre-pregnancy I was starving ALL of the time! Go figure! So that is why you see lots of snacks, I did try to buy healthy ones though...The only thing Im not sure about are the two packs of cheezy noodles. I've never bought those, but if no one seems interested in them, I will donate them to the church food drive. That is my plan, if it is cheap or free get it anyway and then donate it! The 3 boxes of Trix cereal are hard to see in this pic...

2-1 pound packs of hamburger meat (85/15%)

1 pack of breakfast sausage

2 frozen leamonade cups (Kelseys after school treat)

1 bag Green Giant Frozen corn in butter sauce

1 box Apple Toaster Strudel

1 box Cinnamon Toaster Strudel

1 pack Fiber One Key Lime Pie yogurt

2 cans Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls

5 bags of Quaker Rice Cake snacks in different flavors

1 bag Clementine Oranges

1 single serve Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk

1 jar Dill pickles

4 SoBe Life Waters

3 Propel Fitness Waters

4 banannas

3 boxes Trix Cereal

1 Herbal Essence Hairspray

2 bags Nature Valley Nut Clusters

1 box Fiber One cereal bars

2 boxes Warm Delight Desserts

2 boxes Yakisobe Cheesy Noodles (these were FREE)

1 box Scooby Doo Fruit Snacks

3 boxes Hamburger Helper in different varieties

1 case bottled water

And this here Tower of Yummy Delight is something I am very proud of! I got 3 things of BLUEBELL ICE CREAM FOR $8.00!!! That is unheard of these days! Wanna know my secret? A grocery store was running a 3/10.00 ad. If you go to the Bluebell website and register you can print out a coupon for $1.00 off! Luke and I both registered, so that gave us 2 coupons! This better last a while!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Well...Mom couldn't wait to hear about my first day of school, so I thought I'd let everyone in Blogland know! My day pretty much started off with me getting ready for school of course. I was nervous but now I don't even know why since I knew almost everyone and had seen all the others. I'm in the A class so the same people are in my class the whole day. After 1st period, everyone knew my name and anything else important. Still...in EVERY SINGLE CLASS this is what I heard-- "And we have a new girl in our school today!" Wow I'm so glad the 1st day is over and I'm not new anymore. I'm old news now... 1st Period-- Religion, Mr. Bellamy-- pretty nice 2nd Period-- Science, Mrs. Wicht-- pretty nice 3rd Period-- English, Mrs. Catalena-- my FAVORITE! 4th Period-- Social Studies, Mr. Rike-- instead of saying "are you kidding?" he says "NO FOOLIN'!?"-funny! 5th Period-- Math, Sister Josephine-- pretty nice 6th Period-- PE, Coach Giese-- awesome!! 7th Period-- Spanish, Mrs. Vavra-- hard (never taken it) 8th Period-- Band, Mr. Boening-- hard songs but we get to play Hot N Cold by Katy Perry Oh I almost forgot! My mom made a HUGE deal about this...I didn't eat lunch today because I didn't know what to write on the paper for salad bar. I raised my hand for a long time but by the time he looked at me he had already turned in the lunch count. No big deal right??? Oh not to my mom!!!!!!! She gave my like 50 options I could of done such as go up to him after class and explain the situation and stuff like that. Seriously I didn't think it was a big deal! But she's crazy....shhhhh

Today was Kelseys first day of school. She started a new school this year since we've moved. We had meet the teacher last night and Kelsey already knew tons of kids in the hallway, which always makes a mom feel good, when their kids fit in and are well liked! She not only has to adjust to a new school, but also UNIFORMS!! I think she looked very nice, and she got to wear a little bit of make-up this year! She woke up at 6am this morning to get ready, around 7 she was completly ready and bored! She seems very excited and I can't wait until schools out to see how her first day of school went!!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

After I got home from my shopping trip, I went back. Yes, today I was a coupon crazy mad woman! But let me say this, Kroger was FULL of people with coupon books in their basket!!! A few even had their husbands there to help!! What I noticed was if someone got to an item and decided not to get it, they would leave their coupon right there on the shelf. Isn't that nice! This transaction was a little different..some items I didnt have coupons for, but needed, like the coffee and the fruit...I still paid $32.46 for a bill that began at $62.81. I even treated myself to a magazine!! Also, both times, (well actually 3 times counting the class field trip) the cashier has been so nice and patient. They even say wow or good job!

Excuse my mess in the back of my pic...that is my bag of bags Im saving up to use at my garage sale. And see that family plague, that is something Luke needs to hang!! Sabrina, that is your Carnival Cruise coffee cup waiting on you...

This morning I took a coupon class with Heather over at http://www.allthingshendrick.blogspot.com/ and her friend Kirby (Im not sure of Kirbys blog address)They taught us how to shop smart at Kroger! They are wonderful money savers and I learned alot! Thank you Heather and Kirby for hosting such a wonderful class! They are talking about doing another class soon, So as soon as I find out that information, I will post it on my blog!

Today at Kroger, for one day only, they doubled coupons upto and including $1.00! This is very rare and apparently they only do it once a year!I learned that you can upload coupons to your Kroger card, I wasn't aware of that. These can be combined and used with your manufacture coupons! That is awesome! I also learned how to cook chicken breast that come with the bone. I have always bought boneless, skinless chicken breast because I was "scared" to cook chicken with the bone. I just didnt know what to do with it! Also, Kroger has always been my grocery store of choice, but unless you use coupons and ads, they are somewhat more expensive than HEB or Walmart, meaning that I buy alot of groceries at Target. I am a Walmart snob. I hate it. I always have a bad experience when I go in there, either with the checker or another person! They also taught us some smart ways to shop at Target, so with the info I learned today, I can shop at my 2 favorite places, Kroger and Target, and never have to set foot into those other stores!

Here is a picture of what all I bought today! My total before Kroger savings and coupons was $135.00

After Kroger savings and doubling all of my $1.00 coupons (that is ALL I used today)I paid $60.47 AWESOME!!

Here is our first official family picture! This one is getting framed!

Here we are leaving the reception! The pictures are backwards because that is how I uploaded them, oops!Here we are dodging the bubbles!Kelsey and Luke's first dance. Isn't that sweet! I just had to put this on here! Look at all of those mints little Emma is eating!My house party, minus Christy!!! Christy why didnt you get in the pic!?!?These frames were too cute! The happy couple!Luke's cake!My cake! Both were soo yummy! This is funny...this picture is Lukes immediate family, minus 12 that are missing! and this is my immediate family, including my unborn niece!! Quite a size difference in our two families!! Our wedding partyRings!Kelsey fixing my veilUs leaving the churchOur Kiss!!! Smoochy SmoochyUs and Father DavidThese last two are awesome! Luke and his groomsmenMe and my bridesmaids